By George Ozalla
Speaker of the House of Representatives, Rt. Hon. Tajudeen Abbas, has ordered the immediate dissolution of all ad hoc committees of the House following the expiration of the period allotted for them to complete their assignments and submit their reports.
The directive, which took effect from Friday, August 28, 2026, was conveyed in a circular signed by the Clerk of the House of Representatives, Sidi Ibrahim, and addressed to the chairmen and members of the affected committees.
The Clerk said the decision followed earlier directives by the House urging the ad hoc committees to conclude their assignments and submit their reports in line with the Standing Orders and established practices of the House.
According to the circular, only two of the ad hoc committees had sought and obtained extensions of time under Order Eighteen, Rule 5 of the Standing Orders. The two-week extensions granted to them had, however, expired.
The House leadership explained that ad hoc committees are temporary bodies established to undertake specific assignments within defined periods and are not expected to continue operating indefinitely after the expiration of their mandates.
The Clerk also cited Order Eighteen, Rule 11, Paragraph 5 of the Standing Orders, which provides limitations on the period within which committees are required to submit their reports.
He said the affected committees had exceeded the time allotted to them, making their continued operation no longer tenable.
Consequently, all activities being carried out in the name of the dissolved committees were ordered to stop forthwith.
The chairmen of the affected committees were also directed to forward all outstanding reports, working documents, records and other materials relating to their assignments to the Office of the Clerk of the House for safekeeping.
One of the notable panels affected by the directive is the ad hoc committee chaired by Yusuf Gagdi, which had been investigating issues surrounding the inclusion and activities of the Presidential Foreign Intervention Promotion Council (PFIPC).
The dissolution applies to the ad hoc committees whose mandates and approved timelines had expired, rather than the House’s standing committees. The development signals the enforcement of the House rules governing the duration and reporting obligations of temporary legislative panels.
